Merger will mean Waterloo Region will be home to largest mental health provider in Ontario

Hamilton Spectator

WATERLOO REGION — The region will soon boast the largest and best-funded mental health service provider in the province.

The Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) Waterloo Wellington Dufferin branch will launch Apr. 1 with the amalgamation of its Grand River branch and Trellis Mental Health and Development Services. The organization will feature 11 offices including locations in the tri-city area, Guelph and as far as Orangeville.

“We wanted to maximize the ability of both our organizations to achieve our mission, which is to make a difference in the lives of people with mental health and development disabilities,” said Fred Wagner, current executive director of Trellis and future executive director of the merged organization.

The Grand River branch and Trellis voluntarily explored the idea of a merger. Finding many of their programs and services to be complementary and therefore beneficial to clients, Wagner said the two groups went ahead with the proposal.

The Waterloo Wellington Local Health Integration Network approved the decision to amalgamate on Jan. 31 and is providing one-time grants of $1.1 million for infrastructure development and $2.1 million for base operations.

The combined finances of the two organizations will bring the Waterloo Wellington Dufferin branch’s budget to $30 million — exceeding the budget of the association’s largest branch in Toronto, which is just over $24 million.

“It’s a huge opportunity and there’s also that responsibility … to provide some leadership to making sure we are helping people live the best lives possible in the best way possible in their local communities,” said Don Roth, executive director of the Grand River branch, who hopes to be a service-level director after amalgamation.

Roth explained that the large budget reflects the shift in how mental illness is treated in the province, moving out of institutions and into community care.

By combining the two organizations, Wagner said efficiencies will be made mainly in administration, saving funds that can be redirected to services and creating greater accountability with having only one board of directors.

“There’s not going to be a lot of (staff) reduction, there will be efficiencies we will achieve as we move forward,” Wagner said.

Efficiencies will be found as the organization moves to one payroll system and one human resources system and as those teams work together more effectively, he said.

Roth also said that in anticipation of the merger, the Grand River branch did not rehire for some vacancies.

The new organization will have to report to the health network board four times a year to show how improvements and savings are being made, so that “ultimately for the budget that we have, there are more people being seen for more value and with a better-quality outcome,” said Wagner.

Improving its ability to see more clients is a primary goal. The merging organizations already support more clients annually than the over 8,000 people the Toronto CMHA branch serves.

Currently the Grand River branch supports about 10,000 clients plus another 20,000 who call its distress centre annually. Trellis serves 8,000 clients.

Those clients are cared for by more than 300 full- and part-time staff and over 400 volunteers, said Roth.

According to Wagner, the merger will lead to better access to services like the support coordination service that helps those with the most serious mental health issues. New services will be launched, too.

“There will be more peer-lead initiatives, self-help supported by people who have lived and experienced what some of these other people are going through,” Wagner said.

The organization will also co-ordinate access, so that people won’t have to put their names on multiple waiting lists to get the services they need.

Ultimately, the organization’s leader say the merger is good news for mental health service providers and their clients.

“There’s a growing need in community support services … and this is consistent with that and consistent with what people want in terms of services in their own communities,” Roth said.